police surveillance

Last year, the Boston City Council passed a sweeping law aimed at reining in surveillance practices by the Boston Police Department and other city agencies.

After more than 100 white supremacists gathered in Boston and marched through the city over Independence Day weekend, city and law enforcement officials said they “did not have intelligence” that the nationally-known Patriot Front group was coming to the Hub — despite paying a government contractor with CIA ties millions of dollars for exactly that kind of information.

Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell stopped a six-figure grant for the Boston Regional Intelligence Center after another councilor brought it to a surprise vote on Wednesday.